On 20 June 2012 16:22, <k...@sohcahtoa.org.uk> wrote: > Hello All > > Alas, I suspect this interesting looking device is not going to be mass > marketed. > > It will be available only from Microsoft shops or by mail order from > Microsoft. > > Sounds like a 'reference platform' or 'concept' to me > > I could be wrong and sort of hope I am for similar reasons. > > The main thing that happened within Microsoft in the last few years is that the hardware developers actually won the argument with leadership against the OS developers, who were pushing to continue to work only with the X86 platform. The first result was that the current Windows phones are Windows 7 built for ARM rather than the phone OS and Windows lookalike skin that previous Windows phones ran.
It's a minimal step to moving to a Windows tablet, but one which few manufacturers have expressed interest in, so the next logical step is to take on Apple at their own game and start building more dedicated hardware and selling it in their own shops. The only problem is, is that Microsoft are not and will never be Apple, and as always, their notion of 'innovation' actually means 'trying to catch up'. One of the more important factors in the current environment is how the new MacBook Pro, with its lack of user serviceable parts, is received. The general view in the geekosphere hasn't been good, but if there's a market for machines that can't be updated then more makers will do it and there will ultimately be little difference between tablets and laptops as an ecosystem. Canonical understand this, which is why they are looking at hybrid devices, TV and the future of computing. However, I rather think that as usual, Microsoft have come to the party rather too late and while they may well find a market for Microsoft devices running Windows, they'll never be as agile as Apple. What they will have is Office though, and native Office on a tablet may be sufficiently compelling to make a viable product. s/ -- Twitter: @sfgreenwood "TBA are particularly glib"
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